Google blocks YouTube access from Amazon media devices

08/12/2017

(GOOGL, GOOG), said Tuesday that it is pulling YouTube from some Amazon.com Inc. devices in retaliation for Amazon refusing to sell many Google products, escalating a battle between two tech titans as their businesses increasingly overlap.

While Echo Show owners will stop seeing YouTube today, Fire TV users will lose support on January 1.

And then Amazon chose to just restore YouTube to the Echo Show without Google's permission: A few weeks ago, YouTube returned to the Echo Show, much to the surprise and delight of the Show's userbase, and much to the surprise of Google, who hadn't authorized it and found out about it from the news.

The latest dustup between Google and Amazon stems from the latter's refusal to sell several Google devices that compete with its own on its e-commerce site, which is one of the world's largest. It directed viewers to a list of other smart TVs, media players, game consoles, and set-top boxes, where Google's exceedingly popular video app is still available.

Google has chose to cripple the Fire TV and Echo devices because Amazon refuses to sell Google's competing products - the Chromecast video and audio-streaming dongle and the Google Home smart speaker - as well as Google's Nest-branded smart home devices including internet-connected thermostats and home security systems.

The dispute between Amazon and Google mirrors the face-offs that occasionally crop up between pay-TV providers and TV networks when it comes time to re-negotiate their deals.

In September, Google originally stopped support for YouTube on the Echo Show after claiming the implementation of YouTube on the Show created a "broken user experience".

Google is hoping to pressure Amazon into selling Google's products by taking away access to the world's most widely watched video service. This is also the same reason why customers won't be able to buy the Apple TV from Amazon.

If you tried to watch YouTube on an Amazon Fire TV this week, you probably encountered a disconcerting message: "Starting on 1/1/2018, YouTube will not be available on this device". Lastly, Amazon also recently pulled some of Nest's products from its online store. Google is setting a disappointing precedent by selectively blocking customer access to an open website. It doesn't carry the Google Home, which rivals Amazon's own Echo devices. Just last month we saw Amazon Music's Android app updated with Chromecast support. A search for the Google Home via Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa instead surfaces Echo devices. We hope to resolve this with Google as soon as possible.

"Through our collaboration with Google, we are expanding our Omnichannel efforts to go beyond stores and online to in-home". Furthermore, smart speakers are "gateway devices" according to comScore, who says that users of household speakers are more likely to move onto other smart devices such as smart lighting systems and temperature control.

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